Compound work tool



March 25, 1969 T. M. MORGAN COMPOUND WORK TQQL Sheet Filgd April 28. 1966 ZZPr ATTORNEYS INVENTOR:

THoMAs M fiORGAN MM mem wyw United States Patent 3,434,321 COMPOUND WORK TOOL Thomas M. Morgan, 1821 Beverly Drive, Charlotte, N.C. 28207 Filed Apr. 28, 1966, Ser. No. 545,997

Int. Cl. B21d 22/16 US. Cl. 72-83 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to the shaping of stock material and more particularly to a compound work tool for applying force to a rotating stock material to reshape the same.

In the art of metal spinning, sheet metal stock to be reshaped is mounted on a die pattern for rotation with the die about a central axis. During rotation, pressure is applied to the material by a work tool to conform the shape of the material to the shape of the die. The work tool can be supported either manually by an operator and body force applied to reshape the material or the tool may be mounted on an adjustable support which can be moved to position the tool with respect to the axis of rotation of the stock material during reshaping. To refine the movements of the work tool, it has heretofore been necessary to utilize large and expensive adjustable mounting means.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive compound work tool for applying force to shape rotating stock material which tool can be easily manipulated to position its work-engaging surface at any point on the surface to be reshaped.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a compound work tool which is operable to sweep the face of rotating stock material with a force sufiicient to reshape the material.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel work-contacting shaping point for use in spinning tools which reduces frictional wear of the stock metal during reshaping operations.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a spinning machine incorporating the novel compound work tool of the pres ent invention;

FIGURE 2 is a schematic plan view of the compound work tool shown in FIGURE 1 showing the work-engaging point of the tool in contact with a section of stock material on the die of the spinning machine of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a detail plan view of the compound work tool seen in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a side view of the novel work-engaging point of the compound tool seen in FIGURE 3 shown 3,434,321 Patented Mar. 25, 1969 in partial cross-section taken along line 4-4 of FIG- URE 3;

FIGURE 4a is a side view of a modified form of the work point of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of an alternate workengaging point which may be used with the compound work tool of the present invention;

FIGURE 6 is a side elevation of the compound work tool seen in FIGURE 3 looking in the direction of arrow 6 thereof;

FIGURE 7 is an exploded view of the base support members for the compound work tool as seen in FIG- URE 3;

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of the clevis joint of the compound work tool seen in FIGURE 3, with parts broken away to show the inner connections thereof;

FIGURE 9 is a modified form of the compound work tool of the present invention in which a hydraulic system is used to supply power to manipulate the work tool; and

FIGURE 10 is a cross-sectional view of the fluid control valves of the hydraulic system of FIGURE 9.

Referring now to the drawings, FIGURE 1 shows a conventional spinning machine generally indicated at 10 mounted to a suitable support base Ill and comprising a motor 12 which is drivingly connected by suitable means (not shown) to rotate a circular die plate 14 which is secured for rotation to a central drive shaft (not shown). The die plate 14 has a central shaping die recess 15 therein and a substantially flat sheet metal stock material 16 having a central annular opening therein is supported on the plate for rotation therewith by a hinged cover 17 which overlies the surface of the stock material 16. The cover 17 is held closed on the die plate 14 by suitable fastening means (not shown). a

The novel compound work tool of the-present invention, indicated generally at 20, is supported on a base 21 and can be positioned on the base both in a direction parallel and perpendicular to the rotational axis of the spinning machine by means of a pair of threaded O- shaped brackets 22 and 23. As seen in FIGURE 3, bracket 23 is slidably adjustable along bracket 22 by means of a threaded rod 22a which extends through an internally threaded hole in a downwardly extending ear 23a of bracket 23. A handle 22b on the end. of threaded rod 22a may be rotated to position bracket 23 and the work tool 20 parallel to the rotational axis of the spinning machine. Bracket 23 similarly carries a threaded rod 2312 which threadedly engages a hole in an ear 24a of a horizontal circular disc 24 supporting the tool 20 (FIGURE 6). Tool 20 may be positioned perpendicularly to the rotational axis of the spinning machine by rotation of a handle 230 on one end of rod 23b.

The compound work tool of the present invention is best seen in FIGURE 3 and comprises a first elongate member 31 pivotally mounted on a circular base plate 32 by means of an internally threaded sleeve 33 which is pivotally secured to the base by an upstanding =bolt 33a. A second elongate member 34 is pivotally mounted on base plate 32 at a distance from member 31 by means of an internally threaded sleeve 35 which is pivotally secured to the base plate 32 by an upstanding bolt 35a. One end 3411 of the second elongate member 34 is pivotally secured to a clevis member 36 carried by the first elongate member 31 and fixed at a point on the member by means of a pair of lock collars 37 and 38 which abut the sides of the clevis member 36 and have lock screws 37a and 38a which engage the surface of the member 31. Base plate 32 is supported on disc 24 for angular adjustment, as will be explained. First and second elongate members 31 and 34 are peripherally threaded and may be manually rotated in collars 33 and 35 by a pair of rotatable elements or handles 41 and 42 located on ends of members 31 and 34 respectively. Rotation of handles 41 and 42 causes the elongate members 31 and 34 to move linearly along their longitudinal axes and relative to sleeves 33 and 35.

Carried on the opposite end of member 31 from the handle 41 is a work-engaging point 51 which, as seen in FIGURE 5, is comprised of a central support shaft 52 having an externally threaded cylindrical block or holder 54 axially fixed thereon. The cylindrical block 54 has a concave outer face 54a and a spherical ball 55 is positioned in the concavity and secured in contiguous relation thereto by means of an internally threaded annular ring 56 which engages the external threads of block 54 and has an annular inner surface 56a contiguous with a portion of the peripheral surface of the spherical ball 55. Spherical ball 55 is freely rotatable in the concavity of the block 54 and has a portion of its peripheral surface exposed for contact with the rotating stock material. The shaft 52 of point 51 is removably secured to the end of elongate member 31 by suitable fastening means, such as a collet 57.

If it is necessary to manipulate the work tool at extreme angles to the face of the stock material, an alternate form of the antifriction ball work point may be provided (FIGURE 4a). When working at extreme angles with the compound tool, the surface of the ball retaining ring often contacts the rotating stock. To prevent scoring of the stock by contact with the fixed ring of the point, the ring may be provided with means to permit its rotation on the support shaft of the work point. As seen in FIGURE 4a, the spherical ball 55 contacts and rides on an annular ring of ball bearings 55a carried on the end of the central shaft 52 and a retaining ring 58 is mounted for axial rotation about the central shaft by a radial thrust bearing 58a positioned between the ring and the shaft. The retaining ring 58 is removably retained on the shaft by an annular. cap member 59 which is threadably secured to the outer periphery of the ring. By adapting the work point in this manner, the ring, as well as the spherical ball, is free to rotate upon contact with the stock material.

As can be understood, contact of the rotating stock material with a rotating surface will greatly reduce the frictional wear on the stock material during shaping operation of the spinning machine.

As seen in FIGURE 7, the cylindrical disc 24 which supports base plate 32 has a central recess 24b and a plurality of internally threaded holes 61 therein which are angularly spaced about the center of the disc to selectively receive a pair of fastening bolts 62, 63 which extend through base plate 32 and fix the base plate 32 at selected angular positions on the disc 24. For ease of alignment of the bolts 62, 63 with holes 61 in the disc, the base plate 32 has a central bolt 65 which extends through the plate 32 and is secured in a central internally threaded hole 66 of the disc 24 so that, by loosening the bolts 62, 63 base plate 32 can be turned about the disc to position the elongate members at a desired angle and attitude to the rotating stock material. To permit free movement of the base plate 32 about the disc when the bolts 62, 63 are loosened, bolts 33a and 35a, which pivotally secure the collars 33 and 35 to the base plate, have their head portions recessed in the bottom face of the plate.

As best seen in FIGURE 8, the clevis member 36 which operatively secures the end 34a of the elongate member 34 to elongate member 31 is composed of bifurcations 36a and 36b. The opposed ears of bifurcation 36a have openings through which the elongate member 31 extends and the openings are of suflicient size to provide free movement of element 31 during its rotation. The end 34a of the second elongate member 34 is pivotally secured to the clevis member by a flanged end portion 34b which is secured in a fastening pin 39 which is pivotally held in opposed openings in the ears of bifurcation 36b. Lock collars 37 and 38 slidably engage the elongate member 31 and are locked on member 31 in abutting relation with the ears of bifurcation 36a by the pair of lock bolts 37a and 38a.

The operation of the compound work tool can best be described by reference to FIGURE 2 which schematically shows the work tool positioned with the work-engaging point 51 contacting the surface of the stock material. The work tool is preferably positioned initially with elongate member 31 normal to the surface of the stock material at a midpoint to be worked. Rotation of the handles 41 and 42 causes movement of the work tool and repositioning of the work point 51 on the face of the stock material, as can be seen from the broken line presentation in FIGURE 2.

Rotation of handle 41 causes elongated member 31 to move linearly along its longitudinal axis and rotation of handle 42 causes elongate member 34 to move linearly along its longitudinal axis. Sleeves 33 and 35 and clevis member 36, which make up the pivotal support members of the compound work tool, provide the means for changing the angle between the elongate member 31 and the elongate member 34 during this rotation and handles 41 and 42 sweep the point across the face of the stock material in a desired arc with suflicient pressure to conform the material to the shape of the rotating die.

The compound work tool alternately may be operated by means of a hydraulic system, as shown in FIGURE 9, in which case the elongate members are mounted in a. pair of fluid pressure cylinders 91 and 92 and are in the form of smooth cylindrical shafts or piston rods 93 and 94. The fluid pressure cylinders 91 and 92 are pivotally secured to the base plate 32 in the same manner as the internally threaded collars 33 and 35 of FIGURE 3 and one end of the elongate member 94 is secured for pivotal movement to a clevis member 95 carried on an end of member 93. Located in the fluid pressure cylinders 91 and 92 and carried on the elongate member 93 and 94 are double-acting piston elements 96 and 97 which are free to move in their respective fluid pressure cylinders in response to presence applied thereto by a hydraulic fluid.

The hydraulic pressure system is composed of a fluid reservoir 101 containing a suitable hydraulic fluid. A supply conduit 102 leads from the fluid reservoir 101 to the inlet sides of a pair of control valves 103 and 104 which in turn are connected by a pair of conduits 105a, 105b and 106a, 106b, respectively, to fluid pressure cylinders 91 and 92, respectively. Conduits 105a and 105b are connected to opposite ends of fluid pressure cylinder 91 and supply fluid to opposite sides of piston element 96. Conduits 106a and 106b are connected to opposite ends of cylinder 92 and supply fluid to opposite sides of piston 97. A pump 110 positioned in the supply conduit 102 is used to supply hydraulic fluid under pressure to the pressure cylinders 91 and 92.

Control valves 103 and 104 are identical and are conventional four-way valves, the operation of which may be explained by reference to FIGURE 10, which is a cross-sectional view of valve 103. Valve 103 is composed of a cylinder 111 which has a central elongate cylindrical chamber therein divided into a plurality of fluid compartments A through E by suitable partitions 112 which form fluid tight seals between the compartments. The cylinder 111 has an axially positioned valve shaft 113 which extends through openings in the fluid tight partitions 112. A control handle 114 is pivotally secured to the valve cylinder 111 and has a lower end attached to the shaft 113 in such a way that pivotal movement of handle 114 moves shaft 113 linearly on its longitudinal axis. A spring 115 secured in one end of cylinder 111 biases the shaft 113 for central alignment as shown in FIGURE 10. Shaft 113 has recessed portions 113a and I13b which, upon displacement of shaft 113 from a central position by handle 114, permit the flow of fluid between adjacent compartments. A return conduit 116 has branch connections to compartments D and E and conduits 105a and 10512 are connected to compartments B and C, respectively.

In conventional operation, fluid, under pressure, is pumped from reservoir 101 by pump 110 through supply conduit 102 to the central compartment A of cylinder 111. When handle 114 is displaced to the right, fluid under pressure passes from compartment A to compartment B, through conduit 105a, and to the left-hand side of cylinder 91 to move piston 96 and elongate member 93 to the right. Hydraulic fluid displaced from the righthand side of cylinder 91 passes through conduit 105b, through chambers C and E, and is returned to the reservoir 101 by return conduit 116. Similarly, when handle 114 is displaced to the left, fluid under pressure passes from compartment A to compartment C and through conduit 10512 to the right-hand side of cylinder 91 to move piston 96 and elongate member 93 to the left. Fluid displaced from the left-hand side of cylinder 91 passes through conduit 105a, chambers B and D, and returns to reservoir 101 by conduit 116. Since control valve 104 operates in an identical manner to control valve 103, an operator can manually position the handles of the control valves and manipulate the compound work tool with respect to the rotating stock material to effectively reshape the material.

Although the compound work tool of the present in vention has been shown in use with a metal spinning machine and the work-engaging point has been described and shown as a friction-reducing spherical ball, it is obvious that other work-engaging points may be substituted for the spherical ball and the compound work tool may be used to work stock material mounted on machines such as wood lathes, metal cutting lathes, and the like. In FIGURE 5 is shown a wood-shaping work point 120 which may be used in place of the ball element of FIGURE 4.

If it is preferred, when used with externally threaded elongate members as shown in FIGURE 3, the clevis member 36 may be internally threaded and the lock collars 37, 38 eliminated. In utilizing an internally threaded clevis member, rotation of handle 41 causes linear movement of the work-engaging point 51 and rotation of handle 42 will arcuately position the point 51 to sweep the surface of rotating stock material.

In the drawings and specification, there have been set forth preferred embodiments of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. A compound work tool for applying a shaping force to rotating stock material comprising a first elongate member, a work point supported by one end of said first elongate member and adapted to engage stock material to transmit shaping force thereto, a second elongate member, mounting means carried by and through which said first elongate member extends for pivotally securing one end of said second elongate member to said first elongate member with said second elongate member extending at predetermined angle relative to said first elongate member, means spaced from said mounting means and supporting said first and second elongate members for linear movement along their respective longitudinal axes and for pivotal move ment of said members about respective spaced axes for varying said predetermined angle, whereby linear movement of said second elongate member pivotally moves said first elongate member and varies said predetermined angle to cause arcuate movement of said work point carried thereby for sweeping the surface of the rotating stock material.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said first and second elongate members have thread means on their circumferential surfaces, and wherein said means supporting said first and second elongate members for linear movement include means engaging said thread means of said first and second elongate members to effect linear movement of the first and second elongate members during rotation thereof.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, including fluid pressure means operatively associated with each of said elongate members for imparting linear movement thereto.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said means supporting said first and second elongate members for linear and pivotal movement includes means for selectively positioning the elongate members to vary their attitude relative to the rotating stock material while maintaining said predetermined angle constant.

5. A compound work tool as defined in claim 1, in which said mounting means carried by said first elongate member is mounted at a fixed point on said first elongate member whereby linear movement of said first elongate member causes pivotal movement of said second elongate member to vary said predetermined angular relation of said first and second elongate members and facilitate arcuate movement of said work point irrespective of linear movement of said second elongate member.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which said work point includes a spherical ball and means associated with said first elongate member supporting the ball for free rotation thereon with a portion of the ball surface exposed for contact with the rotating stock material.

7. Apparatus as defined in claim 6, in which said means supporting the ball includes a holder having a cavity therein, said holder being attached to said one end of said first elongate member and said spherical ball being positioned in said cavity, and a ball-retaining means attached to said holder having an inner surface contacting a portion of the peripheral surface of said ball and cooperating with said holder to retain said ball for free rotation during use.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein said means associated with said first elongate member includes a shaft, friction-reducing means carried on one end of said shaft and engaging a portion of the peripheral surface of said ball, and a retaining ring mounted for axial rotation on said shaft and engaging a portion of the peripheral surface of said ball to retain the ball on said shaft in contact with said friction reducing means.

9. A compound work tool for applying a shaping force to rotating stock material comprising a first elongate member, a work point supported by one end of said first elongate member and adapted to engage stock material to transmit a shaping force thereto, a second elongate member, means mounted on said first elongate member for linear movement therewith and pivotally securing one end of said second elongate member thereto with said second elongate member extending at a predetermined angle relative to said first elongate member, means supporting said first and second elongate members for linear movement along their respective longitudinal axes and for pivotal movement of said members about respective spaced axes for varying said predetermined angle, whereby linear movement of either of said elongate members pivotally moves the other elongate member and varies said predetermined angle to cause arcuate movement of said work point carried thereby for sweeping the surface of the rotating stock material.

10. A friction-reducing work point for a work tool used to shape rotating stock material by exerting force on said material during its rotation, said point comprising a spherical ball and means adapted to be carried by the work tool and supporting the ball for free rotation with a portion of the ball surface exposed for contact with the rotating stock material, wherein said means carried by the work 7 8 tool includes a shaft, friction-reducing means carried on 2,766,368 10/1956 Berkeley 219-60 one end of said shaft and engaging a portion of the pe- 3,141,433 7/1964 Bosch 7281 ripheral surface of said ball, and a retaining ring mount- 3,221,527 12/ 1965 Roehrs 7280 ed for axial rotation on said shaft and engaging a portion 3,248,918 5/1966 Brown 72-81 of the peripheral surface of said hail to retain the ball 5 3,333,448 8/1967 Ikert 72-85 on said shaft 1n contact wlth said friction reducing means. FOREIGN PATENTS References Cited 66 1/ 1871 Great Britain.

UNITED STATES PATENTS RICHARD J. HERBST, Primary Examiner. 940,773 11/1909 Ackerman 76-892 10 1,884,658 10/ 1932 Gladkon et a1. 219--63 US. Cl. X.R.

1,953,842 4/1934 Wearne 7280 72-476 

